


The Firebreather

by Amazionion



Series: Abandoned Projects [1]
Category: FireBreather (2010)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, Gen, Half-Human main character, I make my own Lore, Interspecies Relationship(s), Mature for language and violence tho it isn't much I swear, Mentions of interspecies sex, POV Shifting, Part 1 of ReWrite, Removal of a canon romance, military tw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:21:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22776322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amazionion/pseuds/Amazionion
Summary: Seventeen years ago was the last of the wars between human and the giant monsters called Kaiju. Seventeen years ago, one brave woman saved everyone by sacrificing herself to the King of Monsters.Duncan is a sixteen year old who desperately wants to be normal, but normalcy is out of his reach when he can pick up a school bus with one hand and take gunfire with little more than a bruise.(This is a rewrite of the 2010 Cartoon Network movie FireBreather, based on a comic series of the same name) (Will be republished after Major changes)
Series: Abandoned Projects [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1825993
Comments: 39
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

Dawn broke over the suburban dessert town of Bradford. People were preparing to go to work and school, and one teenager in particular was dragging his feet. He'd taken forever getting dressed and was regretting the new school before he even actually had his breakfast. 

"Maybe I should skip. Nothing says 'freak' more than rocks for lunch." He sighed, burying his head in his arms. "And you still need help unpacking. I could have the last of the boxes unpacked by noon!"

His mother, a woman named Margaret, sighed as she opened up a cabinet and grabbed a couple bowls. "You're not a freak, Duncan." 

He looked up at her, a frustrated look on his face. "Get real, Mom. I eat coal, and my skin, well, just look at it." He held out his arms, the impressions of scales were visible across his brown skin. "I've got scales."

"It's barely noticeable, honey. And your skin is beautiful, don't let anyone tell you different." She sat down across from him, putting a bowl of cereal and a bowl full of assorted minerals in front of him. "But, you could choose the suppliments over the actual rocks." 

"Yeah, but I already feel sick enough as it is." He sulkily grabbed the spoon and started on the cereal. "At weird as they are, the rocks don't make me sick."

"Doctor Pytel already said that there was nothing she could do about the nausea Duncan, I'm sorry." 

He groaned and busied himself eating his breakfast.

His mother poured herself a glass of orange juice. "Duncan, this is a new school, not an execution. Just try socialize, maybe you'll make some friends, and st-"

"Stop getting into fights, but they're always the one who start it." He was talking with one breath. "Jerks are instinctively drawn to me, like... like homing pigeons!" After a second, he slumped down in his chair and pushed his breakfast away from him. 

"Duncan, you're a sixteen year old boy, just like every other guy in your class." She gently grasped his hand, rubbing her dark brown thumb over the back of his hand. "Every kid in that school has problems of their own. So, if you can just get along with people and keep your temper, everything's gonna be just fine." 

"Message received." He sighed and grabbed his ACDC jacket off the back of his chair before looking for his backpack.

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"No, no." He hiked the backpack up on his shoulders and smoothed out his shirt. "I’m good with walking. You got a job to get to."

"Duncan."

He turned to look at her before going out the front door. She signed 'I love you.'

He returned the gesture. "Love you too, Mom."

As Duncan walked, he tried to remember the way to his first class of the day. He did not want to be late as well as the new kid. He had been kicking a rock for about two blocks now, and as his thoughts strayed to the last school, he kicked it a little too hard. 

The rock flew up into the air, the breeze caught it and it sailed right into the side of someone's car. The car alarm started screeching. "Uh-oh." Duncan speed walked until he had turned the corner and nobody could possibly connect him with the wailing car alarm. 

A car full of guys with the top down had pulled up near a girl at the corner stoplight, and two or so of the guys in the car, including the driver, were catcalling the girl. She gave them one glance, then scoffed in disgust and ducked into the Starbucks on the corner. 

His sensitive ears picked up on the conversation in the car once the door shut. "That the new kid?"

"Probably, never seen him around before."

"God, he's a dork."

Oh boy. Car full of jerks and he has not even made it onto the actual school lot. New record. He crossed the road and was nearing the building when they pulled up next to him. The driver called out. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought there was some bird crap on my rear view mirror, but now I can see it's just your face!" 

The rest of the car laughed. 

"That one's real original." Duncan muttered to himself as they drove off. "Idiot."

\---

Duncan had made it a few minutes before the 'go to class' bell rang. Students had been milling around the cafeteria, but once he'd gotten inside and found no tables without either someone or their stuff, the bell rang and everyone started getting up to go to class. 

He was trying to find one of the rooms, and then he turned the corner right into the girl he had seen on his walk to school. The lid came off her coffee and she spilled it all over his shirt. 

Duncan jumped back a little, and he looked down at his Legend of Zelda shirt that had taken the brunt of the coffee. "Ah man-" He bit his tongue, remembering what his Mom had told him. "Ow."

The girl was somewhat frantically fishing around in her purse, and she looked up with a fist full of napkins. "Here, I'm so sorry!"

A sigh left him as he tried to dab up the steaming mess. "It's alright, it's just a shirt." 

"I'm so sorry!" She tried to help with a few more napkins. "Did that burn you?"

He looked up. It didn’t burn at all, it took a lot to actually burn Duncan. "Uh, no. No, it doesn't feel that bad. I was freezing." 

She raised an eyebrow. "It must be eighty degrees in here, but, whatever. Uh, I’ll see you around." 

"See you around, uhh….”

“Jenna.”

“See you around, Jenna."

She headed for her locker and Duncan headed to his first class of the day, Biology.

As he feared, he was called to the front of the class to be introduced to the rest of the students. Jenna was in the class, as was a few of the jerks from this morning. 

The teacher started to introduce him to the rest of the class. “I’d like to ask the whole class to give a warm welcome to Duncan Xeres Absalom Belfagore Gresthpithus Wu Fan-”

Duncan spoke up, cutting her off. “Just Duncan’s fine, Mrs. Dreakford.”

“Alright, take a seat, Duncan.” 

One girl partially raised her hand, she was wearing a blue and white hoodie and cargo pants. She had brown hair and tan skin. “Hey, Duncan, sit here with Kenny.” She gestured to the person sitting in the desk behind her who was wearing a black hoodie. “They don’t have a lab partner.”

Duncan shrugged and sat next to them, setting his bag next to the stool. “Hi.” Duncan said quietly as he sat down. 

“Hi, I’m Ken Rodgers.”

Duncan smirked. “Kenny Rodgers. Do you know when to hold ‘em? Know when to fold ‘em?”

They were unamused with the reference. “No, not even a little.”

The teacher had started class. They were going to be dissecting amphibians. They got out their lab note books, Duncan, since he didn’t sign the paper, was just going to write down the observations on the frog they were taking apart and watch Kenny dissect the frog.

“As you'll remember from your notes that like reptiles and insects, amphibians are ectotherms and cannot internally regulate their body temperature. What we used to call, ‘Cold blooded.’”

Isabelle looked over at Kenny, who shook their head, then grinned at the teacher. “Why did we stop? Did the amphibians object to being labeled ‘cold blooded’?”

The rest of the class chuckled. 

Kenny was struggling to get the lab safety gloves on when Jenna stood up with something she had pulled out of her bag. “Here, Mrs. Dreakford. I finally got my Mom to sign the thing that excuses me from this wrong project.”

“Wrong, Jenna?"

Duncan softly played with his pencil. Ah. So she was  _ that  _ girl. That shut down the attraction from her immediately.

She scoffed. “Beyond the obvious animal cruelty issues students have a right, no, a duty-”

The teacher took the form from her. “That’ll be enough-”

“-To refuse to do things so unbelievably disgusting. Forcing us to mutilate these helpless, innocent animals and not even offering us a choice in the matter?”

"You completely have a choice-"

Duncan’s eyes drifted from her down at the lizard she was supposed to dissect. His eyes widened as he saw it stirring. He recognized what exactly it was. It was a part of the tiny sub species of kaiju, and it was alive.

Oh boy.

The teacher finally managed to calm her down. “Please dispose of your specimen if you’re not going to participate in the lab.”

She looked down at the 'lizard' that she was supposed to dissect. “Gross.” 

Duncan jumped to his feet. “I’ll do it!”

Jenna looked at him. “Fine, whatever.” She grabbed her bag and went to the library. Duncan grabbed her tray and went over to the trashcan with a bio-hazard sign on it, unbuttoning his jacket with one hand. 

The lizard thing tried to bite at him as he grabbed it. He pulled a rock out of his pocket and dumped it in, stuffing the lizard in the inside pocket and buttoning it up as quickly as he could. He set the tools and tray on the counter and went to go sit back down next to Ken, who still was not impressed. 

“If you want a girl to notice you, throwing away her lab project isn’t the way to do it, bro.” They said as they made the first incision on the frog. “Take my notebook, make observations.”

\---

In the hallway after class, Kenny and Isabelle approached, walking with him towards the gym. “So, Mr. Belfagore Gresthpithus. What’s your secret?”

He ran his hands through his bright red hair. “Lots of bleach and lots of time in between.”

She laughed. “No. I mean, why is your name like an A-list of mythological bad boys? Care to explain?”

Duncan shrugged. "Unconventional parents, but, uh, you really know your crypto-zoology, so points to you." 

Kenny nodded. "Isabelle loves all kinds of monster stuff. She's a fan girl."

"Monster is in the eye of the beholder." 

They went down the stairs, and Duncan noticed one of the kaiju PSA posters that read 'survival is your duty.' With a picture of Belloc on his last rampage. He felt that weird tugging sensation again. 

Isabelle was still chattering. "They’re not complete monsters. They fight us because we invade their territory, destroy their food sources, and on top of it all, we keep trying to kill them. It's been seventeen years since Belloc was last seen and we keep thinking the Kaiju are a threat." 

Kenny noticed that Duncan had not moved and elbowed him in the arm. "Hey, what's the matter? You okay?"

Suddenly, a frog hit Duncan in the head and he growled as he saw the bullies from earlier laugh at his face.

"What assholes!" Isabelle growled. "Shouldn’t have evolution weeded those guys out of the gene pool? Dumb grunts aren't necessary for survival anymore." 

Duncan blinked and looked over at Isabelle. "True, but remember, cockroaches have remained unchanged for millions of years. Genetically, they can survive anything.”

Isabelle raised an eyebrow, and Kenny looked a little impressed. "Well, you definitely aren't a total moron, so, what was up with stealing Jenna's specimen back in class?"

Duncan blinked in surprise. "How did you-?"

"Kenny told me."

Kenny crossed their arms. "You hid it in the wrong pocket, dude. I could feel it against my side. Did you grab it because it was still alive or did you grab it for another reason?"

Duncan looked around and brought them in close. "Just, keep it quiet, okay?"

Once they were out of sight, just outside on the student patio, alone, Duncan grabbed the lizard out of his jacket and he held it in cupped hands. The thing was still squirming against his grip. Isabelle gasped at the lizard. 

"No way! A gamoradon! Unreal!" She grinned widely. 

"No wonder it lived, these things are tough." Kenny was watching, fascinated. 

Duncan shrugged. "All I know is that it's kinda like a little, tiny, kaiju." 

Isabelle scoffed, "It’s a gamoradon, my dear Duncan. These things live on kaiju in a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship. They scout, warn of danger, and live off the slime that forms between their scales. It's like buffalo and the oxpecker."

He made a gagging noise and looked down at it. "Sorry I asked. How come you know all this stuff?" 

Isabelle shrugged. "I read books on this stuff all the time. It's a small press."

"I think you have every book on the subject on these things."

The gamoradon had gotten loose from clenched in Duncan's fist. It bit his thumb. Duncan cried out in pain, dropping it.

"Don't let it get away!" Isabelle shouted and tried to dive for it. Duncan nearly ended up stepping on it as he chased it, and after a second, it just barely slipped out of Kenny's hands. "Ah man, I was hoping I could take it home."

"Why would you even want to keep that?" Duncan got up, dusting off his jacket. "It's... well... weird."

Kenny chuckled. "Have you not figured it out yet? She's the class weird girl. But, we should get to gym." Kenny brushed off their hoodie. "I want to make a good impression on the new teacher."

"New teacher?" Duncan raised an eyebrow.

\---

Their new gym teacher was a familiar face to Duncan. The white hair in the military buzz cut and blue eyes were familiar by now, but the tanning bed treatment was new. . "Alright ladies, line up. I’m your new gym teacher. You can call me Coach Barnes, or, once you come to love me, Blitz." 

Duncan scoffed and walked up to him. "Hey, Blitz. I was wondering when I’d run into you. Gym teacher? That’s your cover? Really? You’re coming down in the world since the last school."

He scoffed and made a note on his clipboard. "The whole Vice Principle thing really cramped my style. I could only yell at the kids. Here, I can get a lot more  _ physical _ ."

Duncan rolled his eyes to himself before going to line up next to Kenny and Isabelle for roll call. "What were you saying to Coach Barnes?"

"Nothing important." He shrugged. "Who's ready for some public humiliation?"

They did stretches, ran laps, and then there was a dodge ball game. Apparently, lesson planning was not Barnes' strong suit, and he got all his inspiration from movies. Teams were picked, and it turns out, the jerk driving the car that morning was called Troy. He was made the other team captain and he picked all his friends, which was most of the other athletes.

The whistle was blown and the game started. The first volley or so of dodge balls were thrown and at least half of the team that Duncan was stuck on was out. 

"Come on!" Kenny shouted from the sideline. "Kick his ass!" 

"Watch it, Rodgers."

"Sorry Coach," Kenny turned back to Duncan. "Kick his butt!" 

"Just a couple losers left." Troy tossed the ball from hand to hand. "Let's take out the trash, starting with the monster fucker."

"What are you, twelve?" Isabelle threw the ball, missed, and hit one of his other teammates in the leg. "You're such a-" Her eyes glanced over at Barnes. "Jerk!"

Troy laughed and threw the big rubber ball right at her head.

"That's enough!" Duncan caught the ball. "Leave her alone!"

More were thrown at him, but Duncan blocked all of them with the two he would catch. He threw one right back at Troy, who moved and someone else was hit. If he'd been as tall as Troy, Duncan would have been out with a below the belt shot penalty. 

"Just hold still!" Troy's team threw a couple more at Duncan, who grabbed two and blocked the rest. As they recovered, Duncan threw both balls at Troy, who was hit, twice, in the face. 

Barnes blew his whistle. "Adams, catch with your hands, not your face! Rosenblatt, no head shots!" 

Duncan stuck his tongue out at him and high-fived Isabelle as he walked over to stand next to Ken. 

"That was cool, bro." They fist bumped. 

"Thanks."

\---

They lost, obviously, but it had still been fun to play. 

Out in the hallway, during lunch, Duncan was reminiscing with Kenny and Isabelle. Kenny was imitating Barnes. "CaTCH wiTH YoUr HanDS NOt yoUr FaCe." They made a chicken-like movement and it made them all laugh. 

"That was so cool, Duncan." She smirked. "I would have paid to record all that in slow motion."

"Maybe we tell the nimrod we'll split profits and we'll take it on the road and sell some tickets." Kenny grinned. "And I won't be working all summer."

"It's no big deal." Duncan shrugged, but he could see Troy and his cronies approaching. "Speak of the devil, and he shall appear." 

Isabelle and Kenny were defensive; Isabelle clutching her messenger bag strap with a white knuckled grip and Kenny glanced down at the floor. 

"Get lost, you two."

"It's a free country, amigo." Kenny sneered. 

Isabelle scoffed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ears. "What are you gonna do, Troy? Beat up a helpless student in the middle of the hallway during lunch hour with, oh, look at that, three teachers coming this way?"

He turned to look, and one of his goons grabbed his shoulder. "We should go."

"You better watch your back, Duncan." Troy snarled before stalking off with his group in tow. 

"I'm so scared." Duncan snorted. "Sore pride."

\---

Next class of the day was foreign language with both Isabelle and Kenny, and then finally he had math. Troy was in the last one, as was that Jenna girl, and neither Ken nor Isabelle was. But, thankfully, it seemed that everyone really liked to behave in it. 

Soon, the final bell had rang and Duncan met back up with his friends. Isabelle put her and Ken's number both into Duncan's phone while Ken gave him some pointers about the foreign language teacher before hopping on their bike and speeding off towards their work, some fast food chain. 

Duncan was starting to cut across the parking lot so he could shave a few minutes off his walk time when Troy cornered him against a truck. His goons were clearly in for a fight. 

"You know what happens now?" He cracked his knuckles. 

"Well, traditionally, here’s where I hand you your meat, all nice and on a slab." He scratched absently at his chin, the tips of his nails feeling hidden scales under the skin somewhere. "But, I pretty much promised my Mom I wouldn’t fight, soooo, later!" 

Duncan shoved Troy and easily pushed his way through two surprised goons. 

"Hey, get back here!"

The chase was on.

Duncan groaned, backpack thumping against his spine, and he cut into one of the open doors of the school. He glanced back, seeing Troy and two others following. 

"You gotta be kidding me!" He shouted, cutting towards the gym. There was an exit there that he could open and not trigger an alarm. 

He noticed that he'd lost them after second, and he skidded to a stop with this revelation in front of Barnes, who looked surprised. "Hey Blitz!" He grinned before ducking into the cafeteria. 

He was rushing towards one of the exits to the patio when Troy seemingly materialized. Duncan was cornered near the wall, and he couldn't run anywhere. Heat started to fill his stomach.

"You don't want to fight me." He licked his lips, heart pounding in his chest as the heat moved. 

"Don't worry, it's not gonna be a fight, more like a beat down."

Troy reached into his pocket and something snapped inside of Duncan. His limbs were buzzing with adrenaline and the heat pushed up his throat.

"Leave me alone!"

Fire spewed out of his mouth, hitting the floor and spreading. The fire burned for a long moment, then went out, leaving scorch marks all over the floor.

Troy jumped back, fear across his face. "Fuck this, I'm outta here!" 

Part of Duncan screamed at him that this was enough, Troy was leaving, the danger had passed, but another part of him, a louder part, a more primal part of his brain, screamed at him that this guy deserved what was coming to him. 

Duncan took a deep breath in, feeling the fire about to come up again, when Barnes appeared, sliding across the floor, tripping Troy and grabbed Duncan from behind, gloved hand covering his mouth and slamming him into a table.

"Holy shit, kid." Barnes whistled as he put out a bit of smoldering table near Duncan's lips. "Way to keep a low profile."

Troy scrambled back until his back pressed against the wall. "Dude breathed fire...wh-what is he?"

Barnes snapped his attention over to Troy. "Get out of the building and go home now, or you're expelled, got it?"

Troy took off, glancing back only once.

"You on the other hand, are in a huge heap of trouble."

\---

Duncan was still protesting as they walked to where the emergency jet was hidden in an old building near the school. "It wasn't my fault! It just happened."

"Save it for later, kid." He pressed his hand against the scanner on the cargo bay. 

"Troy was asking for it, I - I was just trying to defend myself. W-what would you rather have me do? Snap his neck with my super strength!"

"Don't worry about it." Barnes grabbed Duncan by the arm and pulled him into the jet. "I was gonna bench him anyway. From what I've seen, he runs fine but can’t hold on to a ball with a handle."

Duncan groaned and flopped into one of the passenger chairs. "Because that makes me feel  _ so _ much better." 

Barnes slid into the pilot's seat and the jet took off through the open doors. 

On the way to the base, Duncan was itchy. He had scratched at his arms and face, and then it hit him as he pulled back one of his jacket sleeves. His scales were far more prominent than they had been that morning, and had actually poked through in a few places. 

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the small red scale that was on his forearm, showing against his dark skin.

"What the hell?" He whispered, letting his sleeve fall back down as he felt his face and jaw. He normally had to press down to feel the scales on his face, but now they were just under the skin, or sitting on his skin like a drop of blood.

After a flight out into the dessert that came across a base that was set deep in a cliff. MEGTAF. A special government task force that was dedicated to the study, containment, and neutralization of the kaiju. And considering the King of the Kaiju was Duncan's father, it also meant they were studying Duncan.

They were the ones that trained Margaret all those years ago, and they were the ones who helped her during the final days of her pregnancy. One of the doctors that worked there was someone who was a close friend of the family, and she was Duncan's only actually trusted doctor. 

Currently, Dr. Pytel was inspecting his face while he lay on a scanning table. "Well, this doesn't look too bad." She admitted, putting the flashlight in her coat pocket. 

"Are you kidding me?" He sat up, having to force himself not to touch his face. "I look like I've got the worst rash outbreak of the century!" He stuck out his arms where the scales were most prominent.

"More like enormous chicken pox." Barnes crossed his arms from over where he watched by the wall. 

She shot him a look and adjusted her glasses. "Not chicken pox, well, maybe a little like chicken pox, but I promise you that it's hardly noticeable against your darker complexion." 

"Not noticeable? It looks like I'm bleeding!"

Barnes walked over to where she was going over the results of Duncan's scan. "Is this it, Doc? Or should we expect other surprises?"

She adjusted her glasses and started flipping through images on the nearby computer. "Well, obviously, Duncan’s innate strength and resilience have been growing steadily since birth, but, it seems that his natural fight or flight response created a hyper-stimulated state that manifested itself as halitus ignis." 

Duncan looked over at Barnes at he put on his jacket. The man looked just as confused as the teenager. 

"Okay, not everybody knows latin, that's cool. Halitus ignis is fire breath." She clarified as Duncan flopped in a nearby office chair. "It seems that you have been steadily gaining more and more of your father's abilities the older you get, but you should learn to control it in time, but, until then you’re just gonna have to stay out of situations with a high potential for physical conflict." 

"Like high school?"

She laughed to herself as she made a note. "High school, I remember high school. Not a fun time in my life."

Barnes grabbed Doctor Pytel by the arm and dragged her off to the side. Duncan sighed deeply and a small tongue of flame left his mouth, making him cover his mouth in surprise. Testing something, he took a deep breath in and, once he felt the heat in his chest, a quick breath out. 

Quick spurt of flame. 

A grin tugged at the sides of his mouth. Maybe this could be fun.

Barnes was addressing his concerns to the Doctor, unaware that Duncan could still hear them over him toying with his fire breath. "What I was trying to ask was when will Duncan constitute a threat?"

She raised an eyebrow. "A threat? To what? Humanity? Duncan? No, no. He’s a sweet boy. He’s a teenager, not a pandemic."

"What's the difference?" Barnes sighed deeply, crossing his arms. "It's only a matter of time before Belloc-" He cut himself off as the door slammed open.

Margaret stormed across the room, her black, curly hair pulled back and her suit still clean and neat. "Duncan." She addressed him as she crossed the room to Barnes and Doctor Pytel. 

"Oh, hi Mom." He covered his lower face with his hand. 

"Whose brilliant idea was it to bring Duncan here?" She put her hands on her hips. 

Doctor Pytel adjusted her glasses and cast an accusatory glance over at Barnes before busying herself with her notes. Barnes glared over at the Doctor before turning his attention to Duncan's mother, who still looked like she expected an answer. "Uh, how've you been, Margaret?"

She continued to glare. 

"Look, I – I don’t like this either, but there was a little halitus ignis incident at school and-"

"That is what we call ‘your problem.’" She poked his chest. "I have a legal contract with MEGTAF stipulating that my son have as normal a life as humanly possible."

Duncan had figured out how to make the fire into rings, and he was currently playing with them. The fire didn't hurt his hands, just a strange, pleasant warmth, but he'd been nervous about actually touching them out of fear for his jacket sleeves. 

He glanced over at Barnes, who was trying to calm his mother down. "That’s exactly what I’m trying to do, Margaret. Your son’s a fine kid, especially for a boy without a father. I’d be happy to give you my two sense about him over dinner, sometime." 

Duncan's heart raced and he blew a fire ring over Barnes' head. 

"SON OF A _BITCH_!"

Duncan grinned a toothy grin at him. "Not bad, huh?" 

Doctor Pytel scribbled down a note, also smiling to herself. "Very interesting." 

On the way home, Margaret let Duncan sit in the co-pilot's seat so she could talk to him. "Duncan, how are you feeling?"

“Besides the fact that I look even more like a freak than usual? Yeah, I feel fine.” 

“Duncan, you’re not a freak, and you don’t look like one either.”

“I have naturally Kool-Aid red hair, Mom. I have scales trying to burst out from under my skin, a-and they've finally got through." He showed her the scales. "And what else, oh, I dunno, occasionally my eyes turn green with cat pupils, and now I can breathe fire.”

“Duncan, you’re the only kaiju-human hybrid in existence. There’s never been anything like you before. Everything you’re going through is new. You’re unique. Not freaky.”

“Whatever you say.”

She sighed and started to think of ways they were going to explain the scorch marks on the floor of the cafeteria to the principal. The last thing that Duncan needed was to be suspended on his first day of school.


	2. Chapter 2

Duncan sat with Troy in the principal’s office, staring at the floor, praying to whatever God or Gods that may or may not exist that he couldn’t notice the scales that were trying to peek out from under his collar. Barnes was explaining away Troy’s comments on Duncan breathing fire. 

He currently had a container of flash powder in his hands, something he had 'confiscated' from Duncan’s bag. 

“It’s an old gag you can buy at any decent magic shop.” He unscrewed the lid and took out a pinch of flash powder. “The flash powder ignites on contact and poof,” He threw it down, making it spark and flash, “You got fireworks.”

Troy stood up fast enough that his chair flipped over. “That is such a load of bull shit!” He stormed up to the principal’s desk. “That freak’s mouth shot  _ flames! _ ” He gestured angrily over at Duncan. 

The principal stood up, raising an eyebrow at Troy’s anger. “Troy, we’ve discussed the school’s policy on both vulgar language and name calling.” He looked over at where Duncan was standing up Troy’s chair. “Duncan, your prank could have ended in serious injury.”

“I-it did!” Troy pointed to where his eyelashes were missing and his eyebrows were not fairing much better. “My eyebrows were totally burned off!”

The principal came out from behind his desk. “Troy, no offence, but I’ve had you in here so many times your name should be on that chair on a brass plaque. Now, since you’re both at fault, you can either choose suspension or you could work together to clean up the damage.” He looked over at Duncan, who ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s your call.”

Troy scoffed. “Yeah, right. Like I’m gonna do anything with that…. yob!”

Duncan rubbed at his neck, quickly pulling his hand away when he realized the scales there were more prominent there as well. At least they hadn't come through. “If he doesn’t want to do it, can I still clean up the scorch marks? I really don’t want to be suspended in my first week.” 

“Of course, Duncan.” He looked over at Troy. “Do you want me to call your father and tell him you’ve been suspended already this year?”

Troy wrestled with himself for a moment. “Uh, no. I – I’ll help clean up the scorch marks.” 

“Good, now, before you boys head to first block, you two need to be in the cafeteria, scrubbing the floor until it sparkles.”

“Yes sir.” 

\---

Troy was on his hands and knees with a scrub brush, Duncan was pushing a mop around. After going over the conversation once more in his head, he walked over to Troy. 

“Uh, look, Troy, I’m truly ashamed of my thoughtless, dangerous, and immature prank. I’m sorry. Are we cool?” He extended his hand towards Troy. 

Troy got to his feet. “You kidding me? We are not cool.” He shoved the scrub brush into Duncan’s hand. “I know what I saw, you are some kind of freak!” He took the handle of the mop out of Duncan’s other hand. “You stay away from me, got it?”

Duncan shook his head, got on his knees, and started to scrub the scorch marks off the floor. Maybe this was a sign. 

Once the floor passed the principal’s inspection, they went to first block. They were working in groups on a lab report about the dissected frog. 

“Hey guys.” Duncan set his bag next to his stool. “What did I miss?”

“Not much.” Ken shoved their notebook towards Duncan. “You finally grabbed a lab book of your own, right? Copy the notes you made.”

“Sure.” He started to take notes.

“Oh! I forgot.” Ken handed him a black ink pen. “Blue or black ink only.” 

“You gotta be kidding me.” He took the pen. “That’s so stupid.”

“Mrs. Dreakford’s rules, bro, not mine.”

Duncan sighed and started to re-copy the notes in his lab book. 

Isabelle looked up from the outline of her lab report. “So, Kenny already said no because they got work, but, are you coming to the big party on Brookshire Lane Saturday?”

Duncan paused. “Uh, I wasn’t invited to any party.”

She shrugged. "Nobody was. They posted about it all online, and it's one of those parties where everyone just kinda shows up."

"Yeah, uh, it's not really my kinda scene. I - I'm not totally comfortable." 

“Oh come on, from the vibes you’re giving me, you probably go to bed on a Saturday about nine. It’s high school. Do something dumb for once.”

Duncan sighed. “You want to go, but you don’t want to go alone, is that it?”

“Yeah. I don’t have anything else to do this weekend, but I really don’t want to go alone.” She pouted at him. “Please come with?”

He sighed deeply. “What time to I need to be there?”

\---

The week rolled by and soon Duncan found himself sneaking out on Saturday night, unable to explain to his mother that he was, in fact, going to a party.

His skin had been peeling or starting to form a strange scar over the areas where his scales actually pushed through in some areas. He ran his hand over his neck and jaw, feeling some of the new, rough skin pricking at his fingers and the scales underneath.

He turned on a lamp and made sure that he'd been able to cover any of the noticeable places with the foundation. Thankfully, it looked like he'd gotten all of the discolored areas.

"Duncan Rosenblatt." 

Duncan jumped at the sound. "Mom!" He whirled around.

She walked up to him, arms crossed, looking threatening in her too long purple shirt. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Well, Uh, i - it's like this.... I'm kinda going to, a, uh, party." 

"You were invited to a party?" She raised her eyebrows. 

"Yeah, uh, Isabelle told me about it, and I agreed to chaperone her." He shrugged on his leather jacket instead of his regular ACDC one. "Can I go?"

"Yes, but I want you back here by one, not a second later." 

"Of course, Mom."

"And I don't want you having any alcohol if it's there, got it?"

"Yes, Mom." He went to the door. “I love you.” He signed

"I love you too.” She signed back.

\---

Duncan had made the walk up to the big house up on the hill overlooking the city. One of the rich kids that went to the school owned the place and was throwing the party. He sighed and stuck his phone back in his pocket. It certainly looked like there was a party up there, but Duncan was still uncomfortable being up there. 

"Find Isabelle, stick to her. Make a friend.” 

He took a deep breath and he knocked on the door. There was nothing in response but the thumping of the bass for the music. Duncan tried the knob, it was unlocked. 

Inside was loud, painfully so for his sensitive hearing. He kept farthest away from the speakers that were set up next to where some student was DJ-ing. That was going to damage his way too sensitive hearing if he wasn't careful. 

Isabelle at some point materialized at his elbow, causing him to nearly spill his drink.

“Hey there, big guy. I was wondering if you were gonna show up.” She nudged him playfully. “Love the jacket, man.”

“Thanks.” He softly blushed. “You look nice too.”

She was wearing a yellow sundress with a flowy skirt over black tights. The bright yellow looked good on her, even if the MCR logo on one leg of the tights contrasted a bit.

“Thanks.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “I was trying to dress up a little, but my tights that actually go with this dumb thing were in the wash.”

“Nah, I like MCR.” He waved her concern off. A particularly loud song came on and he groaned softly. “Wanna take this somewhere without a million people?”

“Yeah.” She softly pulled him out onto the balcony. There were significantly less people out here because of the chill in the air. “Better?”

“Much.” He sighed, thankful for the muffled noise.

“So.” She hopped up onto the railing. “What’s with those unconventional parents of yours? Giving you all those crazy names?”

He shrugged. “My Dad insisted to name me, it was his choice not mine.”

“Ah, Cryptozoology professor?”

“He was…. A bit of a monster himself.” That was putting it lightly. “He was never around, and he left my Mom and I when I was a baby.”

“Aaah, right.” She sighed softly. “So, Dads are a sore subject. Got it. You have something that you want to talk about?”

“How do you feel about retro games?”

After twenty different topics and a couple hours, the music cut out again and the DJ came on the mic. "Hey, I don't know how many of y'all are on your phones, but get on them! There's a kaiju alert for this whole area, effective immediately. Everyone go home and get to shelters now!"

Duncan grabbed his phone out of his pocket. There was a kaiju alert mass text from the government. A class five kaiju had left kaiju territory and was heading towards the city. Estimated arrival time, forty five minutes. They could hear the warning sirens start up in the city.

"Come on, Duncan!" Isabelle grabbed his arm and led him out of the house. "Do you have a ride?"

"No, I - I walked here."

"My parents dropped me off." Isabelle started to chew her fingernails. "It's gonna be a while before they get here."

"Then you call them, and we'll start walking in that direction anyway." Duncan took the lead. "Can't hurt, right?"

They were walking, and Isabelle was on the phone with her parents. "I'm walking with Duncan, I told you about him.... I know, we're just trying to make some head way.... Okay, love you. Bye." She hung up. "What about your Mom? Is she going to come get you?"

"Uh, yeah." He looked over at his phone and over her string of frantic texts, knowing that she was fearing the worst. "She's on her way, but she wants me to start walking anyway, traffic is horrendous and she might not get to me in time."

"Mine too." She looked over at the hill that blocked their view of kaiju territory. "Maybe we should walk faster."

There was a roar in the distance. “Good idea.” 

Their phones got an update on the kaiju alert. Ten minutes out. Its speed must have picked up. Isabelle and Duncan could hear what almost sounded like thunder in the distance. Probably the footsteps of the huge beast. 

Isabelle cleared her throat, hugging her arms around herself. “That thing is really moving.”

“We should get to cover.” Duncan pulled her off the mostly deserted road, and they crouched among an abandoned car and shrubbery. 

“None of this makes sense.” Isabelle let her head thump against the rusted out car. “Like, why now? It’s been seventeen years! Seventeen! You think they would have done something before now!”

Duncan only faintly noticed her because he was feeling a tugging sensation in his gut, and he did not like it. His heart was pounding, he had fire in his throat. It was like when he’d been cornered by something or someone in the past, only except ten times more intense. 

Fight or flight had never been this strong before. Even when he had at once stared down the barrel of a gun.

A gamoradon clambered out of the broken down and rusted out car and across Isabelle’s lap. Isabelle gasped and made a grab for it. Duncan tried to grab it, but it scampered off.

“I do not like the sounds of that.” Duncan whispered as he half-stood to peer through one of the busted windows. “It’s getting closer.”

“Get down!” She hissed as she tugged at his jacket sleeve. “Duncan!”

Duncan gasped and sat down hard. “I saw it.” 

“What?!” Isabelle glanced over the car door and sat down, terrified. “It’s Belloc.” She gasped, covering her mouth. “The actual head kaiju himself. It’s fucking Belloc. Oh my God, we’re going to die.” She hugged her knees to her chest and buried her head in her knees.

Duncan was itching all over. 

Isabelle glanced up at him and immediately flinched back. "Your eyes!"

“What?”

“They’re… _ green _ .” The look on her face of shock and confusion was one he’d remember for the rest of his life, however short it may be. “And you’ve got cat pupils. What… what’s going on with you?”

“Listen, Isabelle, Belloc isn’t here for some random reason.” He clenched his fists a few times, seeing a few scales starting to appear on the back of his hands, tearing the resealed skin and leaving little driblets of blood from around the joints. “He’s looking for me.”

“W-why would he be looking for you?” 

“Because….” He licked his lips, hands trembling. “Because  _ Belloc _ is my  _ father _ .”

“How?” Her voice cut off in a squeak as it became close enough they could hear the gust-like breath of the approaching monster. 

“I’m not kidding.” Duncan whispered fiercely. “You better run, Isabelle. Run and don’t look back. Forget me. It’s for your own good.”

The car they were leaning against was grabbed up in an enormous, red, scaly hand and thrown away. Isabelle fought the urge to scream as Duncan felt his blood boil, his mind screaming at him to fight, to kill. Belloc was feet from them both, staring down at them with orange and yellow eyes. His enormous bulk was a black mountain in the sparse light.

“Run!” Duncan pushed Isabelle to her feet and she took off. “Your fight’s with me!” He scrambled to his feet and ran in the opposite direction. 

For once in his life, Duncan was thankful for the endless treadmill testing from MEGTAF. They had honed his ability to marathon at inhuman speeds. He took off away from the city, and in the opposite direction of Isabelle, heading slightly for the MEGTAF base. He just needed to get somewhere safe and everything would be okay.

But, it was still really hard to outpace something with legs many times longer than your body.

He hadn’t gotten too far when he was engulfed in flames. 

Duncan screamed, stumbling, curling up in a desperate movement to protect himself. After a second, the intense heat and light were gone. Duncan smelled singed hair and burnt cloth. His leather jacket was embers in the wind, his pants were singed -but holding together- and his shoes were puddled. Other than that, he was fine.

He scrambled to his feet, kicking off the molten plastic, but got nowhere before he was snatched up in the enormous scaly hand that had thrown an entire car with little effort.

“Let me go!” Duncan screamed, struggling as best as he could with both arms pinned to his sides and his legs completely immobile. The thick, red leather of Belloc's palm held him tightly in place, even as Belloc got up onto two legs.

“Let go!”

Belloc didn’t answer, just turned and headed back to kaiju territory. 

Suddenly, Duncan felt really, really terrible for ever making fun of any female lead in giant monster movies. There really was no way out of the fist of a giant monster.

After too long of struggling and far too much distance between them and civilization, Duncan had barely managed to get one of his arms free. He’d still not allowed himself to stop struggling or protesting.

“Where are you taking me?”

No answer, again. How did his Mom have a relationship with this  _ thing _ if he never spoke?

“I think I deserve to know where I’m being taken!” 

Nothing.

Duncan, whose heart still beat like a drum and whose chest still felt tight with fire, decided to finally release a little flame. He tilted his head up towards Belloc, taking in a long breath, and he spewed fire from his mouth, aiming for the eye. 

Belloc turned his head away as the flames died on his scales. After a second, those huge orange and yellow eyes blinked and glanced down at him while the all encompassing fist brought him up closer to the kaiju's face, chuckling. Duncan felt his throat tighten, extinguishing any fire.

Fear rushed down his spine. Was he going to be killed for that outburst?

"Excellent." Belloc twisted his hand around as he opened his fingers and Duncan had to scramble to his feet in his palm. Duncan just got his balance when thick talons knocked him onto his back and held him down by the forearm. "Duncan, let me look at you."

Duncan didn't like the way those multi colored eyes stared down at him. They were just so critical, like the kaiju could see right through Duncan. Hot air rushed over Duncan, smelling like smoke and rotten meat. Duncan really didn't like the bad feeling that was welling up in his stomach.

"Why don’t you just kill me already and get it over with?" He kicked helplessly. 

Belloc released his arms, but curled his fingers around Duncan, pinning him down again. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead, along with that human girl."

"Then just let go!" Duncan struggled fruitlessly against the thick leather that continued to pull at his already mangled clothes. 

"Stop struggling. You'll need your strength."

"Where are you taking me?" Duncan was having to try not to gag from the horrible kaiju breath. 

There were a few more minutes of the constant swaying from his walk, then Duncan was suddenly dropped a few feet onto a rock outcropping.

Disbelief welled up in Duncan. Belloc had actually let him go. Duncan glanced up at the enormous creature, who was busying himself with moving a large boulder that covered a crevice in the rock. 

Duncan took it as an opportunity to run. 

"Do not prolong the inevitable!" Belloc shouted, nearly deafening Duncan before he was whisked into the air again. "This has been a long time coming!"

The two of them vanished into a crevice in the rock, which widened out into an enormous, crystal filled, cave system. 

"We are an ancient race, Duncan, so old we have faded between the human's myth and science. They have the nerve to call us ‘invaders’ when it is  _ they _ who have infested our world, the world we rightfully won." He set Duncan on a pile of rock, whose eyes were having trouble adjusting to the lack of light. 

"W-where are we?" He couldn't see a way out that wasn't blocked by the enormous, dragon-like being. 

"Home, Duncan." He straightened after shutting them back into the crevice, looming over the teenager. "Your true home."

"No way." Duncan shook his head, eyes finally adjusted. "This isn't my home. That doesn't change just because  _ some kaiju _ impregnated my Mom."

"I am not just  _ some _ kaiju." He snorted smoke. "I am Belloc,  _ King _ of the Kaiju. You may be my son, but you are weak." 

Duncan jumped down, finding of the larger crystal formations, and he ripped the fifteen to twenty foot tall chunk of crystal out of the ground and threw it at the other wall, making it shatter on impact. "I'm strong enough!" 

"I have no doubts about your physical strength. You are small, and the human world has made your heart soft." He poked Duncan in the chest with a talon, making him stumble. "You must grow to be hard and remorseless if you are to rule over the kaiju one day."

"Do you really  _ think _ I'm gonna be the king of these creatures?" Duncan felt fire in his chest again, his heart pounding, his voice also jumped up an octave. "I am  _ not _ a  _ monster!" _

"You are my son!" Duncan was snatched up again, but at least his attempt to dodge made it so he had his arms free. "You are half kaiju, Duncan, superior to everyone you have ever known. You  _ will _ be my successor, whether you want to or not!"

" _ That's _ why you brought me here!" Duncan struggled against his grip. "You've ignored me and you've ignored Mom my whole fucking life and now you expect to train me for something that I don't even want! Fuck you!" He made a very rude gesture.

A low growl came from the kaiju's throat, but he stopped short, pupils narrowing as he looked deeper into the caves. "Listen."

There were snarling noises, and thuds like something walking. There were thunderous roars that sounded like an attempt at speaking.

"They're assembling. They've caught our scent." He walked deeper into the cave. "Do not make a sound, understand?"

Duncan didn't answer. 

The two of them went deeper into the caves. Duncan saw entire skeletons fossilized in crystals bigger than a building. The cave became darker, then almost blinding with the light.

Belloc stood on the ledge above an enormous lava pool. There were other kaiju standing around it, but at lower ledges. This was a meeting place, and the two of them were at the head of the table. Despite being so high up from the magma, Duncan could still feel the scorching heat.

If it didn't evaporate so fast, he'd be sweating.

\---

His subjects were assembled. Belloc stood tall, loosening his grip on his heir, shifting him to the open palm. The boy was not foolish enough to try something now.

"I am your king, but my time must come to end! I have chosen my successor from my children!" All of them shuffled forward, Vencoatl in particular was tense with anticipation. "This is my heir, Duncan!"

There was no hiding the boy now. Spirits of the fallen protect him. 

Uproar filled the chamber, limbs flailing. Everything from cowardess to the legitimacy of Duncan's bloodline was hurled at them.

One kaiju's voice was loudest. Abbadon, with four legs, two black eyes, blue leathery skin, and green plating spoke up raised his claws. "You desecrate our race! You shame our ceremony! You're a traitor to your blood!"

Aztheroth, Abbadon's twin, snarled and their spines raised slightly. "First, you keep us from exterminating the human vermin, and now you decide to mate with them!"

"Silence!" His Command echoed through the caves. "Who dares to challenge their king?!" He briefly noticed Duncan covering his ears in pain. "Do you Abbadon? Or you Aztheroth?"

Both stepped back, letting their arms drop back to their side, forcefully lowering their spines. 

"I thought as much." He scoffed. "I have made my choice! Let it be known among our people that this boy is my heir! He  _ will  _ rule!" 

Deafening silence followed the exclamation.

The matter was settled. The trials and the fight for the throne can begin.

Duncan pulled his hands away from his ears, nervousness and confusion on every feature. The boy didn't understand one of his own blood languages. That would need to be fixed.

"Brace yourself, child." Belloc mumbled, switching to English for the moment.

"Wha-!" Duncan was hurled into the center of the magma pool.

Belloc had to steel himself as the pained scream of the boy ripped through the chamber. A fist behind his back clenched for seconds dragged into eternity before a figure threw itself out of the magma pool.

Duncan's fully scaled body hovered in the air for a long minute. Wings similar to Belloc's own when they were still functional were open. Duncan clung to the rock wall, tail whipping angrily, near his own eye level.

Red scales adorned Duncan's too small body, much like his own. Small, black horns were visible among his bright red hair. Fire spewed from his mouth, enveloping the ceiling, rivaling his own fire breath. 

Good. He had survived the first trial.

But the night was long, and many trials needed to be done.

Only time will tell if he would continue to survive. 


	3. Chapter 3

Duncan awoke, feeling sore all over. His throat hurt, his head hurt, his body hurt, basically everything hurt. All the way down to his gums.

With a groan, Duncan sat up, and became a lot more aware of his situation. It was daytime at least, but he had no clue if it was Sunday, Monday, or any other day of the week. He was sitting in the middle of a bunch of broken rock, in a crater. He was also completely naked. 

His eyes scanned around for any potential witnesses. There was none. Thank goodness. 

Duncan got to his feet, wincing at his everything complaining from the pain and the movement. He climbed out of the crater and looked around. He was on the edge of Kaiju territory. There were a few recognizable landmarks. At least knew where he was. He just needed to get to civilization. 

Might grab some pants first, to preserve his dignity.

He found himself walking towards Kenny's place. Well, he was about eighty percent sure it was Ken's place. Mobile home parked way on the edge of town, had been there a while. He snagged some sweatpants off the clothesline, after checking to make sure they were wearable. 

After smelling the air, Duncan was much more sure that this was Kenny's place. Their scent was all over the place. Cheap detergent and the smell of a desperate existence. After taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. "Ken, it's me." His voice was raspy, and he had to clear his throat to little avail. "Are you here?"

"Duncan?" It was definitely Kenny's voice as the knob rattled.

"Wait!" He grabbed the knob and held the door shut. "Before you open the door, you need to know, I look weird."

"I know." 

"No, I mean weirder than before." He sighed. "Compared to this, I used to look great. Just... don't scream." He slowly let go of the handle. 

Kenny opened the door, glancing over Duncan. Their eyes slowly glanced up and down his body, with very little change in expression other than raising their eyebrow critically before turning inside. "Okay. You want a soda?" 

"So, you're not freaked out? At all?" 

"Not really." They dug around in the fridge that had some alphabet magnets and some drawings around them. "Belloc is all over the TV, our kaiju alert level is red after seventeen years of radio silence from  _ all _ kaiju, not just the King." They stood up with a couple of sodas. "Compared to all that, you're just not that shocking, man." They tossed Duncan a soda. "By the way, are those my sweatpants?"

"Oh," Duncan opened the can. "I lost my clothes. I hope you don't mind."

"Naw man, I'm not gonna make you give 'em back." They shrugged. "Besides, seems like you're going through a lot right now. I mean, when Isabelle told me your father was Belloc-"

Duncan choked on his soda, taking a second to cough before speaking. "She told you?" 

"She tells me everything." Kenny turned on the TV and flopped on the couch. "We're best friends. She's like my sister. She called me in a panic last night, saying you were doing some heroic sacrifice thing to save her from your old man and that you'd told her you're half kaiju......."

"Well.... I guess you can tell her I'm okay now."

Duncan silently drank his soda, glad for at least something to keep him from passing out from low blood sugar. Turning his foot this way and that absently noticed that he had a piece of glittering crustal stuck between a couple of his toes. 

Ken flipped the channel over from a news report about Belloc's rampage the night before (oh, so it was Sunday) to some scientist explaining the different classes of kaiju. "So, your Dad's the King of the Kaiju. That's... cool."

"Not cool." Duncan stood in front of the TV. "First, he does this to me." He gestured to his body. "Which is why I came here first, my Mom's gonna  _ freak out _ when she sees this."

"Glad to see it wasn't just to take my pants." Kenny guzzled their soda. "It's not that bad though. It honestly looks kinda bad ass.”

“That’s because it’s not a part of  _ your _ body.” Duncan sighed. 

Ken patted the couch next to them and Duncan sat down. Kenny turned off the TV and patted his shoulder. “You’ll be fine, it’s not that noticeable, I swear. But, it seems like you got a lot to get off your chest. You can talk to me about it.” 

“It’s my Dad.” Duncan groaned. “He’s back. He’s, like, abandoned me and Mom for all my life, and now he’s back and he wants me, the, you know, half-breed-bastard-spawn to take his place as the King of Monsters.” 

“Mhmh. Continue.”

“So, he’s not only, like, a giant monster, he’s a complete psycho!” Duncan stood up and started to crush the empty soda can. “I’m not big enough, I’m not tough enough, I’m a total disappointment to him and his race unless I can do everything his way. There's these tests for his succession that might  _ kill me  _ and I have no idea how to prepare for them. He’s-” He paused, halfway to throwing the crushed soda can in the garbage. Mostly full of fast food bags from Ken’s work and graded homework. “Your parents…. What's their deal?”

“Yeah.” Ken scoffed. “Mom left Dad when my sister and I were kids. He…. Wasn’t coping. Threw himself into work, which, he still refuses to talk about. He’s always vanishing for months at a time, then reappears with no explanation, only to be gone again in a week. I hardly ever see him. Maybe three or four times a year, you know.”

“Then… how does that work? You’re just living here with your sister?”

“Naw.” They sighed. “She left with her girlfriend a year or so back. They’ve got good jobs, a nice place, dog. They send me cash and checks in the mail. I work, I keep myself afloat. They wanted me to run away with them, but, I’m a minor, she wasn’t, plus I couldn’t just leave Isabelle. I can forge my Dad’s signature. Everything works out.”

“I see.” Duncan shoved the garbage down so the can would shut. “I won’t tell social services. But, if you could, refrain from mentioning that it was my Dad who caused mass panic?”

“No problem.” They held out their fist for a fist bump. “Mutual secret keepers.”

“Thanks, man.” Duncan bumped his fist against theirs. 

“So, other than the dramatic ending, how was the party?”

“Boring. Loud.” Duncan was back on the couch, picking pieces of crystal out from his foot. Now that he was looking, he found there were shards of crystals and pieces of rock in several places that were super uncomfortable. Now that the ache was dulling, they made themselves known. “Isabelle and I talked a lot though.”

“I see.” Kenny reached forward and pulled a sizable chunk of crystal out of Duncan’s hair. “What happened to you last night? Did you get thrown through a mountain?”

“I wish I could remember.” Duncan shook his head, trying to get any more shards loose, finding only a little more in his hair. “I remember being captured and then thrown into a magma pool. It hurt, but I didn’t die. There was a lot of fire, but I don’t remember anything after wards.”

“So, since your Dad is the fire-breathing kaiju, when Troy was trying to convince people you could breathe fire…”

“I was actually breathing fire.” He nodded. “And I got scales. And this hair, it’s not dyed or bleached or anything.”

“That part, kinda cool.”

"I'll agree with that."

The phone rang. Kenny reached over and picked up the receiver, turning over the piece of crystal in their hands. “Rodgers residence, Kenny speaking.”

There was a feminine voice on the other end. 

“Oh. Uh, one second, Mrs. Rosenblatt.” They handed the phone to Duncan. “It’s for you.”

Duncan bit his lip as he put the receiver up to his hear. “Hello?”

“Duncan, I’m so glad you’re alive.”

“Hi, Mom.” He hated the worried tone in her voice. 

Kenny silently asked if they could keep the hunk of crystal. Duncan nodded before trying to explain that he would have called, he swears, but his phone was destroyed. As were his clothes. And his shoes. 

\---

That night, Margaret was on the phone with Barnes, and she was mad. Duncan was looking at the tender skin that seemed to coexist with his scales in the bathroom mirror. The It still kinda hurt when he pressed on them. At least he was able to walk around without a bunch of scales to worry about someone seeing.

The tiny scars had faded and now there were just little invisible marks where his scales slid out all over his body. 

As he inspected his body, Duncan was able to overhear his Mom's conversation with Barnes. If there was one thing that was good about having the super hearing, it was that he was able to hear both sides of phone calls if he focused. 

"Half of MEGTAF is scouring the desert for him, Margaret. If Belloc's out there, we're going to find him."

She changed which hand was holding the phone. "Colonel Barnes, maybe you should send out all of MEGTAF if half of it is having difficulty finding a hundred and twenty foot giant!"

"But, Marg-" 

She hung up, angrily putting the phone on the coffee table in the living room. He heard her approach the bathroom where Duncan was trying to rub lotion on his arms to soothe the stinging. 

"Easy Mom," He let her take the bottle from his hands as he got comfortable on the bathroom counter, "It's not Barnes' fault that Belloc decided to show up."

"Well, it’s not your fault, and it’s certainly not….Duncan, are you blaming me for this?" She gently touched his shoulder. "Duncan, everything I’ve done, every choice, the constant moves, the deal, having MEGTAF in our lives, it’s all been to protect you."

Duncan sighed and let his head thunk against the mirror. "Well, I don't think it'll do much good. Nothing can stop the biggest monster in the world."

She set the bottle on the counter with a thud. "Your father is a great many things, but he is not a monster. You don’t know the things he’s been through, the good things he’s done. I don’t expect you to understand, but I did love him, and he gave me you."

"So what am I? Human? Kaiju?"

"You're you." She made him look at her. "That's all that matters." 

He sighed and handed her the bottle. "I can't get my lower back. My arms won't reach." 

She took the bottle and put some on her hands, starting to rub at his back. "So, I suppose now that you've met your father in person, you've probably got questions as to how you were conceived."

Duncan hopped off the counter, heat rising on his cheeks. "I've got questions, that is not one of them. That is nowhere even near the list. That is not not even in the same ballpark of my list. That is- that is not something I want to hear."

"It couldn't have been more simple."

"No, nope, nu-uh. I'm not listening." He covered his ears. 

"Now you're just being rude. This is why you don't have any good friendships." 

"I have friends, kind of." He sat on the edge of the tub. "I was talking to Kenny when you called, and I was with Isabelle before Belloc kidnapped me."

"He sounded very polite. I'd love to meet him."

"Kenny uses 'they/them' pronouns, Mom."

"I see." She sat down beside Duncan. "Well, I'd still love to meet them, and that girl that invited you to the party. I've got time tomorrow, after school. You could invite them over."

"Tomorrow!" He blinked, looking scandalized. "You really think I'm going to school tomorrow! When... when I look like this? What do you think is going to happen to me?"

"I don't know what's going to happen." She hugged him. "This doesn't determine who you are. You make your own choices, except for college, you're getting a degree. No choice." 

Duncan stifled a laugh by hugging her back. 

"Everything's going to be okay, I promise." 

\---

Duncan was super nervous going to school the next day. His scales may be covered by the skin, but they still left the little marks on his body. His skin on his neck had changed as well, it felt much more leathery and it was more textured. It looked almost like lizard skin. 

But only if you got really close. His dark skin was really saving his reputation here.

Come morning, when he was in the cafeteria trying to look inconspicuous, Isabelle hugged him tightly when she arrived with Kenny. "You're alive!" She smiled as she buried her face into his hoodie.

"Yeah. I'm okay." He tried to make her let go. "Isabelle. People are staring."

She let go and sat down next to him with Kenny. "I'm sorry if I'm overreacting to you saving my life." 

"No, you're not overreacting, it's just... people are staring."

"Right, right, the attention." She was still beaming when he sat down next to Kenny. "So, uh, Kenny gave me the gist of what was going on after I had to run. Do you really not remember what happened?"

"Not even a bit." He sighed. "But I still ache. Did you get home safe? I didn't ask...."

"Yeah. After I ran for a while, I found another road and my folks were able to get me. I made it back safe, thanks to you, Duncan. Belloc would have killed me for sure."

He shook his head, groaning into his arms. "He wasn't.... he was searching for me, not going on a killing spree."

"I'm still going to thank you, Duncan. You were my hero." She squeezed his hand with a soft smile.

"Just... warn me before you go spouting a secret to someone else." He sighed. "I try to not let anyone know things about my," He searched for the right word. "Blood line."

"That's reasonable." She was staring at his neck. "What's up with your skin? Rash?"

"Uh. Scales, actually."

The smile on her face and the total lack of disgust from either of them put Duncan in a great mood for the rest of the day. It was nice having friends that didn't think he was a freak. Not even the promised afternoon of poking and prodding at the base could bring him down.

\---------

After math class he was on his way to MEGTAF base, to see if Doctor Pytel could help him with this development in his condition. 

He was relaxing in one of the passenger seats, hands behind his head, just chilling.

"Going for a checkup with Doc Pytel doesn't normally make you so happy." Barnes noted, breaking the comfortable silence. 

"I'm not." Duncan scoffed. "I doubt very much that she'll have a skin cream that can handle this." He glanced at his arm, faint impressions of scales were visible. "And if she can, it's just gonna hurt more next time Belloc tosses me in a magma pit."

"Then what's got you so chipper?"

Duncan settled back into the seat. "Can't a man just be in a good mood?" He wasn't going to put Kenny and Isabelle in danger because they happened to know what they did.

The inside of the jet fell into silence.

Minutes dragged out, Duncan was looking out the window, and he knew that this wasn't right. He stared out the window enough he knew where MEGTAF was and where it wasn't.

He sprung out of his chair. "Wait, this isn't the way to the base. Where are you taking me?"

"Just a little detour. Thought maybe I'd see if anything out here can jar your memory." 

"I already told you, I don't know where his lair is. I don't remember anything!"

"That may be true, but I think your body’ll sense when he’s near and do the funky kaiju." He dipped the plane a little lower. 

"That's not happening, Barnes." He could feel the tugging sensation in his gut, accompanied with severe lightheadedness. "I'm not your personal monster detector."

"You can try and stop me, junior, I'm-"

"So dead." He could see scales creeping over his hands. 

Barnes turned around in his seat. "Is that a threat, boy?"

"No." He rushed over to the cock pit, where rocks and other debris were being thrown up at them from a kaiju Duncan could feel on the ground. "We're so dead."

"Hold on!" Barnes shoved Duncan into the other seat, grabbing the controls and trying to maintain a bit of control. The plane shook, and a notification about a damaged wing came up. "Can't hold her! Hold on!" 

The canopy blew out and both seats were ejected into the air as the plane continued to plummet towards the ground. 

Duncan slipped out of the seat after just a second or so, his head was spinning, and he hadn't exactly been strapped into the seat. He was vaguely aware of Barnes screaming his name, but once he caught sight of the ground, so far below, his mind became shockingly clear. 

This kaiju, it needed to go down. He had to fight it. He had to kill it.

Everything about it made his blood boil. The dust colored scales that covered its reptilian body. Long, thin, clawed fingers on all six limbs. It stood on four, and its tail thrashed angrily as it roared.

Pain shot through Duncan's body. The hoodie and shirt he was wearing under it were torn to shreds when his wings unfolded, slowing his descent. Scales had shown themselves all over his body, slipping out from under his skin to protect him, talons had grown in place of his fingernails. His feet tore out of his sandals.

Duncan tucked his wings into his back, picking up speed so his first hit would be a good one. 

The kaiju grabbed him and threw him across the ravine. Duncan skipped across the ground and smashed into the cliff face. When he started to pull himself out of the crater, the kaiju smashed its fist into his body, pushing him deeper into the rock. 

He planted his feet against the kaiju's knuckle and he shoved. The kaiju reared back to hit him again, and he jumped out onto the ground. The way that this kaiju was built, it had four legs on its lower half and a set of arms on its torso. The back legs were vulnerable.

Barnes watched as Duncan dodged a grab. The boy launched himself at the kaiju, pushing its knees backwards with an audible snap. The kaiju stumbled away and threw a boulder at Duncan. 

"This is Barnes, the half-breed and I were attacked. Transport down." He silently prayed the radio wasn't damaged. "I want every unit we got deployed inside the Perimeter, and I want it yesterday. We got a class two kaiju out here, roughing it up with the half-breed. Transmitting coordinates."

The kaiju had gotten a hold of Duncan. He was in a good position when he had been grabbed, able to brace his feet against one of its joints. Duncan grabbed a hold of one of its fingers and flipped it backwards, snapping the thinner bones. 

It roared at him and tried to smash him with a rock. He dodged and then jumped at its head, swiping a clawed hand across its eye. Green blood gushed from the wound, and he shook his hand free of the blood while it stumbled around blindly. 

"Yes!"

Duncan's head snapped over to where Belloc was watching him from the entrance of the ravine.

"Better!" 

"What is this? A test!" He felt fire boiling up in his throat. "A stupid test!" 

The kaiju had managed to spot him with its one good eye and it smacked him with its tail, throwing him clear across the ravine. 

Smoke poured from Duncan’s mouth as he pulled himself out of the hole. "Don't start with me, ugly." It started to charge, limping on the wounded legs.

He took a sharp breath in and let loose as much flame as he could muster. It encompassed the creature and made it collapse, arms raised to try and defend itself. 

"Duncan, you must kill Zithonur or she will surely kill you!" Belloc roared. "Finish her, now!" 

"I don't want to fight!" Duncan rounded on Belloc, who was closer, fire still boiling in his chest. 

"The kaiju know of your existence.” He had a low growl in his voice. “Any of them may challenge your right to succeed me at any time." 

Duncan was aware of the kaiju, Zithonur, getting back up behind him. "I don't want to succeed you!" 

"But, you do want to live." He didn't move as Zithonur grabbed Duncan with her good hand. "Only your blood lust will save you." 

Duncan freed himself, breaking a few more fingers, and then breathed more fire at her. Soon, she was collapsed on her back, unmoving. He doubted that she was dead.

Glancing around, Duncan grabbed a piece of the plane's wreckage, a large, triangle shaped shard of glass from the broken canopy, and jumped up on her chest, rushing up to her exposed throat. 

"Excellent, my son!" Belloc sounded proud as Duncan raised the glass to stab it into her throat, it made Duncan's stomach churn. "Perhaps it is not too late for you yet!" 

Duncan stopped, glass still raised. The fire had died down in his chest. The scales had retracted back under his skin. His talons were gone. 

"Finish it!" Belloc roared. 

"No." Duncan threw the glass away and jumped down. "She's beaten."

Belloc rushed forward, angry. "No kaiju will be beaten so long as they're mobile."

“Don’t!”

Belloc slashed her throat with his talons. "You will only be able to safely walk away from a fight when your opponent is dead."

Duncan watched the green blood splatter on the ground, pooling in the dirt. Nausea churned in his stomach. This was murder.

This was  _ wrong _ .

"There is a war coming, Duncan." Belloc dropped down on all fours, but Duncan couldn’t pull his eyes away from the bloodstained hand. "A war for this planet that could end  _ everything _ . If this war is to happen, there will be bloodshed on a scale humanity has never seen.” Duncan glanced up towards Belloc’s face. “Only one race will be left standing. You  _ must _ take my place as the King of the Kaiju, you alone must stop the war from reaching its zenith."

"A-a war?"

"Yes, and soon.” He snarled. “I have barely been able to restrain them for as long as I have, but they are restless.” Belloc’s talons gouged the dry earth under him. “Whether you like it or not, you have a foot in both worlds. You are secure in the human one, for now, but you will need a secure foothold in my world if you are to survive to your succession."

“I don’t understand, what war?”

There was an explosion nearby. Duncan whipped around to see MEGTAF surrounding the two of them in the ravine. His heart pounded in his ears, they had opened fire. 

They had opened fire on  _ him. _

They had to know he was down here.

Were they trying to kill him?

Why were they trying to kill him?!

"Barnes." Belloc whispered, shuffling backwards. "Get down!" He grabbed Duncan as they opened fire, on a much larger scale. 

Duncan heard muffled explosions and gunfire as his stomach told him he was being moved, quickly. He couldn't see anything through the thick fingers, and the rough surface of Belloc’s palm scratched at Duncan’s back like sandpaper. After a minute of quick movement, he was dumped on the ground, and Belloc vanished back into the ravine. 

Duncan scrambled over the top of the cliff and looked down. Belloc breathed fire at the soldiers and their equipment, they shot back at Belloc. Duncan had to do something. He had too many questions, and he wasn't about to let his only source of answers die.

Not yet.

Belloc had thrown several tanks and wrecked a good amount of equipment by the time that Duncan had caught up to Barnes. "Stop firing! You'll kill him!" He shouted over the roar of the bullets. Barnes was wearing some kind of full body armor and helmet. Probably something to protect him from Belloc's fire. 

"That's the general idea, kid." He shoved Duncan away as he mounted one of the machine gun trucks. "We kill monsters!" 

"But-"

They weren’t going to listen to him. He had to end the fight from the other side.

Duncan growled to himself as he jumped down off the cliff side back into the ravine. He approached Belloc, weaving through the wreckage. "Run!" He shouted up at him. "You can stop this! Get out of here!" 

“Duncan!” Belloc gasped. He lunged forward, hands creating a wall between Duncan and MEGTAF as an explosion shook the ravine.

Belloc growled and got back to his hind legs. Duncan swallowed dryly.

His father was  _ really big. _

A torrent of flame surrounded the remaining MEGTAF vehicles. Several of the vehicles exploded from the heat, one of them being the truck that Barnes had been on. Barnes was thrown from the force, and Belloc snagged his body out of the air. 

For a second, all the fighting ceased. Barnes struggled against Belloc's grip.

“Please, just run.” Duncan’s voice was pitiful in the deafening silence. “You can’t die yet.”

Belloc didn’t move, eyes hard as he clutched Barnes, smoke pouring from his mouth.

Barnes was the first to shout. "What are you doing?" The soldiers seemed to come alive at the voice. "Shoot! Do it now! Shoot!"

"No!" Duncan whipped around to face the soldiers, voice back. "Stop! Hold your fire!"

The soldiers froze again.

Belloc shifted backwards, and then dropped down to all fours and released Barnes. Duncan saw Barnes fall a few good feet to the dirt.

Duncan glanced up at Belloc, hoping he’d just  _ go  _ and the fight would be over.

A deep sigh left the enormous monster. "I surrender."

That was the last thing Duncan expected to hear.

Barnes stumbled to his feet, then regained his composure once he was a safe distance away. "Okay boys, let's wrap this up."

\---

Duncan watched as Belloc was forced into a cage near the edge of kaiju territory. It had been a large cave that they had forced him into and placed huge, thick bars over the openings.

Electrical prods had been used to guide Belloc, when they'd just need to say something and he would understand. He wasn't just an animal, and it made Duncan feel sick to watch.

It also worried him greatly.

If MEGTAF decided  _ he _ , Duncan, posed a threat, would he be captured too?

They had shot at him back in the ravine. What was stopping from someone ‘accidentally’ hitting Duncan with stray fire?

Barnes' words in Doctor Pytel's office were rushing through his head at the moment, making him feel dizzy.

Duncan was sitting on a rock, head in his arms, when Margaret showed up in her work suit, white knuckling her purse strap.

"Duncan, thank God you’re okay.” She hugged hum tightly. “You weren’t hurt, were you? I was told what happened.”

He threaded his arms around her, squeezing her as tight as he dared.

After a moment she pulled back. “Duncan, were you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mom." He gestured to his worst bruise, across his chest. "It's just a few bruises."

"Nothing broken, you swear?" She cupped his face in her hands.

"I swear."

"Good." She sighed and pulled back. "I don't know what the hell Barnes was thinking, taking you out here. If he had just  _ done what he was told _ , this wouldn't have happened.” She was angrily glaring out towards Barnes, whom was being patched up by a medical officer. “I'll be having a word with his superiors."

Duncan nodded absently, rubbing his arms. The dessert was cooling as the sun was setting. He was a little mad at himself for ruining his shirt and one of his hoodies, but at least his pants were intact.

“Oh, I was also told what happened to your clothes.” She reached into her purse and pulled out his ACDC jacket. “Here. Cover up.”

“Thanks.”

While he shrugged into his jacket, Duncan couldn’t help but notice his mom looking out towards where Belloc was curled up inside the cage, arms crossed, hands clenched. Duncan glanced over his shoulder.

Belloc was staring at the two of them, head resting on his hands.

"Come on, Duncan, let's go home." Margaret grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the jet.

Belloc let out a mournful whine, hand gripping the bars and ignoring the shock from a prod for the action. Margaret only glanced over her shoulder at the clanking noise.

\----

He had survived, but he wouldn’t finish the job.

Why couldn’t he finish the job?

_ Curse that boy’s soft heart. _

The artificial lights of the soldiers washed over the ravine in front of his cage. Belloc had to turn his head away to remain within his thoughts. He needed to concentrate on his heir, he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by the trivialities of soldiers and capture.

Duncan had done everything perfect until it came time to strike the finishing blow.

All it would have taken is for the boy to push down on the glass and Belloc would never had to bloody his claws.

Reminded of his deed, he glanced down at the blood drying on his claws. He couldn't have returned to his kingdom like this, blood of his subjects on his claws.

Just one of the reasons he surrendered.

The distressed voice of his heir, it had froze him to the spot.

_ Maybe the boy inherited my ability to command. It should prove excellent for his survival if his voice works on humans as well as my voice does on kaiju. _

He started to clean the blood off his claws, thinking over what would need to be done to harden the boy's heart.

Duncan would need to take a life if he was going to end up ruling over his people. Belloc would need to protect the boy in the mean time, just until he was ready to kill.

His transformations had still yet to fully take hold.


	4. Chapter 4

Biology had Duncan twitching as he had to sit through the lectures. It was hard to take notes when he kept checking his reflection in any reflective surface to see if he accidentally started growing scales again. If he started to look more like a freak. If he was looking less  _ human. _

"Hey man, are you okay?" Kenny whispered in the back of the darkened room. "You've been really weird..."

"Take a guess, Ken." Duncan whispered back.

"Oh shit." They whispered. "Did you have a nightmare about Saturday? Like, you remembered what happened to you?"

"God no. I still don't remember what happened that night." He sighed quietly. "Something happened yesterday."

"What happened?"

Isabelle leaned back a little, interested.

"My... escort and I were attacked on the way to the MEGTAF R&D base." Duncan whispered back to them. "My father showed up."

"Did he attack you?"

"No. He... He actually saved me from getting shot by MEGTAF soldiers. Another kaiju attacked our transport. I wounded it, badly, but I didn't kill her. I couldn't. My father thought it was best to kill her anyways. The whole experience.... it really freaked me out."

"You were shot at?"

Duncan nodded softly.

"That's terrible..... Is there anything I can do?"

"N-No. Just.... just don't let the teacher call on me."

They let it drop. It was clear Duncan didn't want to talk about it, and they had no clue as to how to respond to all of it anyway.

\-------

"Hey, Mom?" Duncan softly spoke at dinner that night. "Could you tell me a little about.... Belloc?"

"Why the sudden interest?" She looked softly at Duncan. "You've not wanted to know about him for a while."

"Because it hurt you too much to talk about when I was younger, and because I didn't want to know anything about him then. I've.... He's said some things to me after he killed that other kaiju and I want to know what you feel about him. I need to know if I can trust things."

"What did he tell you?" Her brow furrowed.

"Uh... something about a war, between humans and kaiju." He was poking at his stake with a fork. "That it was going to end up wiping out one of the races if we didn't- if  _ I  _ didn't take his place as king and stop it."

When he glanced up at her face, she looked almost angry, but also scared.

"Mom?"

She set her utensils down and placed her trembling hands in her lap. "I'm sorry. It just opens an old wound." She cleared her throat. "Belloc wanted a half-human heir because he believed that it would bring peace to.... to the kaiju. He knew that the fighting wouldn't stop unless the humans were willing to listen or one of our people's were dead. He believed having a half human heir leading his people would make humanity listen."

"Yeah, good luck with that." Duncan carefully continued eating. "Humans don't like listening to monsters like me."

"Duncan-"

"Right, right, no 'm' word."

She sighed sadly. "Duncan, I need you to know that all I want for you is to have a normal a life as you can. I love you, so, so much. I left your father because he wanted a warrior and an heir. I wanted a child. I can't stop you from choosing what you want to do, but I want you to be safe, and live, and grow normally. I didn't want you to have him pressuring you into becoming a war machine." She reached across the table to cup Duncan's cheek in her hand. "Nobody should have to deal with having the fate of the world on their shoulders. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy, Mom." Duncan softly grabbed her hand. "I just wanted to make sure I wasn't being lied to."

"Sadly, he wasn't." She pulled her hands back. "MEGTAF and people like Barnes are hell-bent on exterminating all kaiju once and for all. Your father's people want to have their world back, and they'll kill all humans to get it done. I just don't want you caught up in the middle of it. I want to protect my son, is that too much to ask?"

\-----

Gym class wasn't fun. Barnes watched Duncan like a hawk, and Duncan didn't want to put Kenny and Isabelle in danger by telling them what was happening.

His thoughts raced as he dragged his feet during laps.

"Pick up the pace, Rosenblatt!"

Duncan glared at the man, and after a second, he started to outpace the rest of the class. If Colonel Barnes wanted to be like that, then Duncan was going to put both their positions in jeopardy. Duncan couldn't let the fact Barnes wanted to start another war go.

It just made his blood boil.

_ I have to stop two species from tearing each other to pieces all because nobody can work towards peace. I'll have to become a big enough of a blood thirsty monster to control other kaiju, and I'll have to attend peace talks with people who have seen me in diapers. I can't stop this stupid war. _

"Rosenblatt!"

Duncan tripped over his own feet and he went sprawling on the ground. He rolled a few times before coming to a stop on his back.

Barnes was standing over him, back to the rest of my class. "My office, now."

After a minute, Duncan was standing in Barnes' office. "I didn't do anything."

"Didn't do anything? Do you have any idea how fast you were moving out there?!"

"I dunno. Fast enough to get you off my back."

"You were going fast enough to make Usain Bolt give up running." He growled softly. "First you spit fire at another student, and now you're using your super strength in  _ class _ . You need to get your act together before I have to move you two again for your own safety."

"Maybe you should cut me a little slack since I just was  _ shot at  _ by people I was told were on  _ my  _ side, but I guess if you could kill two birds with one stone-"

"I don't like what you're insinuating there, boy."

"What? That you'd just as soon shove a gun in my face and get rid of me o-or strap me to a lab table and cut me open then have to keep me alive?" His chest burned with fire.

Barnes was on his feet now. "I'm protecting you here from being dragged into a street and hung by a lynch mob!"

"You wouldn't care if I was hung by a lynch mob!" Duncan felt fire build in his throat.

"You being alive is the only thing from stopping Belloc from leveling this damn town!"

Duncan went to speak and he had to slam a hand over his mouth when he felt the fire try to spill out of his mouth.

Barnes sat back at his desk while Duncan swallowed the fire, the burning sensation dulling and moving down to settle in his gut. It took a few minutes for Duncan to finally be able to speak with no fire or smoke on his breath.

"Are you better now?"

"Yes." Duncan spat.

"Good. Get out of my office, and consider this your final warning."

Duncan stormed out, going straight into the changing room to get into comfortable clothes. He kept his eyes down on the floor just in case they were green and didn't have round pupils.

Kenny and Isabelle approached him after he changed in the locker rooms. They looked worried.

"What did Coach say to you?"

"Nothing." He cleared his throat, changing the subject quickly as the lunch bell rang and they went out into the hallway. "So, uh, are either of you going to homecoming?"

"Well, we thought about going. We normally don't tend school functions." Isabelle gave him a side glance. "You gonna go?"

"Only if we can go as a group without it being weird."

"Awesome." Kenny gestured to the library. "Let's go get tickets then. You guys got cash?"

\----

There was uproar in the halls.

"-A coward, and a liar!"

"- Exterminate the vermin-"

"-Weakness for that half-blooded pest-"

"SILENCE!"

After a few seconds room fell into a tense quiet. Vencoatl had one foot mounted on the table, pushing his body up above the heads of the other gathered kaiju. His orange scales gleamed in the torch light of the monolithic room, and his claws were black.

"Let the scout speak!"

The smallest kaiju in the room softly moved forward in the crowd. He was nervous, surrounded by everyone so big. After a moment of fiddling with his pincers, he spoke up. "The humans have taken our king captive. They hold him in one of the caves near the ravine where the half-blood slew Zithonur."

Her mate cried with outrage. "And what of her body?"

"Gone. Taken by the humans."

He turned away with disgust and exited the room.

Vencoatl spoke again, taking control of the room. "We must trust our king. He had not failed us yet."

Abbadon scoffed and their twin readied their claws. "He chooses the half-breed misborn over his best warrior and his right hand man. Why would  _ you  _ out of any of us trust anything Belloc does? He gave your throne to the half-vermin."

"Because he is our King!" Vencoatl loomed over the twins. "And because I am still loyal to our king, something I doubt that either of you still are."

"He  _ dared _ to choose that  _ thing _ as his heir!" Aztheroth hissed. "How do you not feel betrayed?"

"Because I trust my sire!" Vencoatl snarled, letting his fangs snap near Aztheroth. "He has been training me as warrior, and as a leader, but he never once told me that I would be heir. Belloc knows what he's doing. I suggest you trust the decisions your king has made unless you wish to feel my claws on your throat."

The twins fell silent, and Vencoatl stood tall over the other kaiju. "All of you are within right as a subject of Belloc to fight the heir for his throne. I will  _ not  _ give challenge, and I will make peace with Belloc's decisions. I suggest the rest of you do the same."

Vencoatl stepped down and went to his chambers.

Abbadon and Aztheroth hissed with disgust and turned to the other kaiju. "Tonight we shall go to slay the half-blood and take the throne for our own. Who's with us?"

Not a body moved.

"Cowards, all of you!" Aztheroth snarled and left with a clack of the talons.

"When you see us again, you will bow before us." Abbadon followed seconds after.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the night of homecoming. Kenny had come over to Duncan's place to get ready for the night and then they were going to pick up Isabelle.

Duncan had finally found a suit that he felt comfortable wearing that didn't clash with his bright red hair. He was checking his neck in the bathroom mirror, seeing if there was anything he needed to cover, but didn't find anything, thankfully.

"You checking for scales?" Ken was applying foundation under their eyes to hide the bags.

"Yup." He tugged at his collar, making sure that there was nothing showing just under his suit collar. "And everything seems to be in order here. You good?"

"Yeah, just making sure I don't look like a zombie." They tugged on their binder to adjust before sighing and turning to Duncan, running their fingers through their hair. "Think I should pull it back?"

"Nah, leave it down. It looks good." Duncan arranged a few strands. "There."

Ken blushed slightly and pulled back. "Thanks." They cleared their throat and turned back to the mirror. "Are you more a ring or necklace guy?"

"I'm more of a necklace guy I guess."

"Cool." Ken placed a little box on the counter in front of Duncan. "Here." 

"What is it?" Duncan opened the top.

Inside was the hunk of crystal Ken had taken out of his hair the other day. It had been wire wrapped and placed on a silver-colored chain.

"Ken, this is so cool." He took it out of the box, holding it up to the light. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah. I wire wrap all kinds of stones, and I decided since you let me keep them you'd get something." Ken shrugged, a small smile on their face. "Don't worry, I wire wrapped something for Isabelle too. It's a... thing I do for friends." 

"Awesome." Duncan put it on and then tucked the crystal into his shirt.

Margaret drove them to Isabelle's house, and the two of them crowded the porch to ring the doorbell.

A man in his late thirties answered the door. "Ah, Kenny. Nice to see you." He shook Kenny's hand. "And you must be Duncan, right?" He extended his hand towards Duncan.

"Yeah. I'm Duncan, Duncan Rosenblatt." He shook the man's hand.

"Strong grip." He glanced into the house. "Belly, your friends are here!"

"Dad!" Isabelle came out in a black dress that covered her shoulders and went most of the way down her arms. The skirt was white with black lace trim. "Please, not in front of my friends."

"Sorry, pumpkin." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Have fun, okay?"

"I will, love you." She hugged him and then went over to the car, Duncan and Kenny on either side.

Isabelle climbed into the front seat and once Kenny and Duncan were in the back they went towards the school.

"Here, Isabelle. These would look better than those silver studs." Ken held out another small black jewelry box and she opened them up excitedly.

"Oh Ken!" She gasped and held up the pair of earrings. There were a bunch of small crystals wrapped and hanging from an ear hook, all at varying lengths. It looked like a small, red chandelier. "Thank you, I love them!" She took out the little silver studs and put the new earrings in her ears immediately.

"You're welcome." They softly smiled.

After a few minutes of quietly chattering about how cool it was that they were going to homecoming, their phone started ringing and over the radio, a kaiju alert started to go off.

"Two class three kaiju are headed towards the city of Bradford. It is strongly suggested all residents make their ways to the shelters designated at -" Margaret clicked the radio off.

"Are you kids getting the text alert?"

"Yup." Duncan stared down at the alert. "I gotta go. I gotta drive them away."

Margaret slammed on the brakes and turned around in her seat. "Absolutely not! They will kill you, Duncan. I'm not going to let you get yourself killed."

"Mom, they're here for me. They want to challenge me for the right to my Dad's throne. They won't stop until I've faced them."

"Duncan, you can't do this." Isabelle grabbed his arm.

Duncan gently pried her hand off and shrugged out of his jacket. He placed the necklace and his phone in the jacket pocket and set it on the seat next to him. "Mom, I can't let innocent people die because they're coming for me."

"Duncan-"

He climbed out of the car and softly touched the passenger seat window. "Get somewhere safe. I'll be back before dawn."

"Please be careful."

He was running towards the desert at inhuman speeds.

Margaret looked at the two frightened teens in the back seat. "I'll drop you two off at the shelters."

"What? No!" Isabelle clutched the seat belt. "We want to help! Duncan is our friend too!"

"Oh, I don't have time for this." She gunned the car in the direction of the school. "If you're coming with me, loose the accessories."

Kenny shed their tie and suit jacket, tossing the wire wrapped ring onto their things before removing their shoes. Isabelle put her purse, jewelry, leggings, and heels in the back seat next to Kenny.

They were at an abandoned building with the cargo doors wide open. Margaret placed her things on the dash and then climbed out. "Come on, we don't have much time."

A small plane sat in the middle of the building, facing the side doors that lead into the desert.

"Both of you, get in and suit up." She pressed her hand to the back panel and the door opened, revealing the inside of the plane.

"This is-"

"Super spy." Kenny smiled to themselves.

"I was going to say 'bat-shit crazy' but that works too." Isabelle found a few full body suits and handed one over to Ken.

"Don't worry, it gets better." Margaret breathed in through her teeth as she suited up.

\----

Duncan had seen the two kaiju that had protested so loudly the night he was thrown in the magma pit. They were the ones attacking. The were the ones that wanted to kill him.

What had Belloc called them?

Abba-something? Aster-cloth?

It didn't matter. He would have to fight both at the same time.

Scales had slid over his skin and his wings had sprouted from his back when he spotted them. He could feel his talons scraping against his palms as he clenched his hands tightly. His shoes had been tattered by the talons on his feet as his legs shifted.

At least MEGTAF had yet to mobilize. Made this slightly easier.

Fire built in his chest, and Duncan unleashed a few spurts of flame at them before turning and taking off towards the mountains at top speed. He could not let this fight take place close to the city. There were far too many innocent lives at stake and he didn't want to risk someone getting his picture either.

He ended up at the base of an enormous cliff, the two kaiju a good distance behind. For something so big, they were pretty slow. Much slower than Belloc anyway

"Come on, I can do this." Duncan shook out his joints and jumped as high as he could, sinking his talons into the rock to cling to it. "Easy peasy, just knock in handholds as you go." He muttered, hauling himself up the cliff. There was still a lot of room to go.

\-----

Belloc stood in the cage, watching the soldiers rush around. They were moving the guns that had been trained on him, the artillery. Men were being loaded up in transports.

His highly trained ears easily picked up on Barnes' voice among the clamor. "Two unidentified kaiju, class threes, heading towards Bradford, let's move men. Double speed."

Belloc felt a little satisfaction as Barnes occasionally cast a glance over his shoulder at Belloc, who was simply standing there, watching with unblinking eyes.

Memory was a funny thing for a being that had seen millennia pass. Civilization rose and fall, and yet here he stood, feeling like an eternity had passed since he had stood tall in front of a human army.

The first human army to ever face him was armed with little more than stones and sharpened sticks. The fight was over quickly and the pitiful army filled his belly.

The last time Belloc stood before an army, ready to fight, felt simultaneously like yesterday and lifetimes ago. Asphalt shattered beneath his weight, buildings burned or lay in ruin, and the human woman who showed no fear was cradled in his palm.

Metal had crunched under his feet as he retreated, destroying the human's army, but holding the woman close.

Her scent filled his nostrils, and he was pulled back to the present. She was here, near the cage, along with two young humans. One of them was the girl Duncan was with on the night of his presentation.

"Margaret."

\---

Margaret had landed the plane near the large cave in which Belloc was being held. Before she left the plane, she grabbed what looked like an enormous shoulder fired gun.

"Woah, what's that for?" Kenny helped Isabelle down. 

"Duncan's father and I have some... unresolved issues." She closed up the cargo doors before mounting the weapon on her shoulder. "You two ready to meet Duncan's daddy?"

They nodded nervously and she lead them down a crack in the rock and soon they were in the cage with Belloc, on a rock shelf hear his face level as he watched the movements below. His eyes were open, but the inner lids were closed. He was deep in thought.

Margaret hefted up the weapon and aimed at his eyes as his breathing went from smooth and steady to almost huffy, like he was smelling for them.

"Margaret." He turned his head and looked at them. The inner eyelid opened and his red and orange eyes showed in all their menacing weight. His voice seemed like he was pleased, but his clasped claws said otherwise.

Isabelle gripped Ken's hand, heart pounding. Kenny was gaping, scared within an inch of their life. They'd never seen a kaiju in person before, and the PSA's didn't prepare them at all for it.

"You get one chance, Belloc." Her stance didn't waver as she aimed the weapon.

"You haven't changed one bit." His mouth twisted upwards in a small smile. 

"I'm going to ask you a question. If you lie to me, I will pull the trigger."

The tiny smile didn't fall. "I don't doubt it."

"Did you or did you not send those things that are trying to kill Duncan?"

His breath washed over them, causing Isabelle to nearly gag at the smell of smoke and long rotten meat. Kenny tried to stop staring at the huge, pearly white teeth. "Abbadon, Astaroth. Traitors. I should have slaughtered them for their outburst at Duncan's presentation."

"Answer the question." Margaret had a surprising amount of venom in her voice.

"I did not send them, but I suspected they might come for him." He glanced over at the MEGTAF agents scurrying around nearby. "It is why I let the humans take me. To be close. To protect him while the kaiju were in turmoil."

"I knew it." She lowered the weapon. "I'm not gonna let you just take my son, you know."

"I know." He tilted his head curiously. "But, if he wants to come, freely, what would you be willing to do?"

"For now, let's just keep him alive." 

"Agreed." He turned to face the bars, rolling his shoulders, making his plate-like scales grate together with a thunderous noise. "Stand back."

"Move!" Margaret pushed Ken and Isabelle back towards the hole

Belloc took a small step back and smashed his shoulder into the bars, cracking the rock holding them in place and shaking the cave. Margaret herded Kenny and Isabelle back up towards the jet as the ground around them shook. They made it it up to the safe area where the jet had been parked when the ground trembled, and a good section of it fell away. 

Belloc shook himself free of the debris, scanning the equipment and soldiers left.

"Someone get some guns on that thing!" 

It seems Barnes had already left. Someone else was barking orders.

Belloc dropped to all fours, heavier scales sliding across his vital areas as he saw a blue energy gate cover the mouth of the ravine. He grabbed one of the tanks, picking it up, not caring that a few men escaped between his fingers. He tossed the metal weapon into the barrier. It exploded. 

"Hmn." He took a few running steps and rammed headfirst into the barrier, passing through it with only some discomfort. He shook himself, forcing the tingling sensation to the back of his mind, knowing that he had to find and kill the traitors to protect his son.

"Come on." Margaret grabbed the two teenagers inside and got to the controls. "We're going to follow him."

\------

Duncan panted as he made it up the cliff face. He was at the top, finally. It wasn't exhausting as it was tedious, but his wings and his heavy scales weren't helping.

Barnes appeared at the top of the cliff. "Get up here!" He grabbed Duncan's arm and pulled him up.

Duncan stumbled and fell to a seat. His heart was pounding and heat was building in his throat.

"This is all your fault!" Barnes shoved a gun in Duncan's face, making him flinch back. "Belloc and the kaiju are back because of you!"

"What?" Duncan stammered. "I-I haven't-"

"Shut up!" Barnes snarled, and Duncan flinched back again. "Drop the act, you ain't no innocent kid. You've been responsible for dozens of deaths today alone when your old man busted out of his cage."

"But I-"

"Shut up! I saw you tear apart that thing in the desert! I know how dangerous you are!"

The ground was trembling underneath both of them as the two other kaiju approached. Duncan tried to scramble to his feet, but Barnes shoved him back down. Fire climbed up Duncan's throat and he turned his head up and spat at the two kaiju as they climbed up the cliff.

Barnes whipped around and fired shots at the two approaching kaiju. There was very little effect against the thick shell like material that covered their bodies.

One of the kaiju snatched Barnes off the ground. Duncan stood and breathed fire at them both. Barnes was tossed away, and Duncan jumped off the cliff to save him.

Duncan's wings snapped open as soon as Barnes had been caught and managed to control their descent, gliding them somewhere safe.

Barnes was dumped onto a rock shelf a fair distance away from where the two kaiju were snarling and growling after them. "You should be okay here. They seem pretty focused on me. You can get away."

"Why?" Barnes spat, trying to get to his feet. "Why would you save me?"

"You now I need an A in health. Consider this extra credit."

"They’re gonna kill you, you know that."

"Before they do, I'll make sure to tell them where you're hiding." Duncan scoffed and leaped off the cliff. It was a little bit of a struggle to gain height with his wings. They were heavy, and he wasn’t sure how to properly use them.

He circled the kaiju, and they threw things at him as he struggled to stay in the air.

One of the rocks hit Duncan, and he tumbled out of the air. While he was trying to figure out which direction the ground was in, Duncan was pinned to the cliffside, one of the spines from the kaiju holding him in place.

They both advanced, claws primed to gut him.

They didn’t get close. Belloc crashed into both of them, snarling, smoke pouring from his mouth.

Duncan struggled more against the restraint. He had to get loose. This was his fight. He couldn’t let someone else get hurt.

Belloc was on top of one of them, claws trying to tear into its chest, and the other took its slender fingers and pried it under Belloc’s heavy scales. He roared in pain and hit them with his tail, trying to force them back long enough to dispatch the other.

Duncan heard the roar of a jet engine. He glanced up. It was a MEGTAF craft.

\---

Margaret tilted the plane into a nosedive. "You two, strap in."

"What are you doing?" Ken strapped themselves into a seat.

"I'm gonna help him, hold on!" She hit a button, the canopy popped off and the three of them rocketed up in a seat. The jet crashed into the kaiju trying to hack in Belloc’s back, sending it sprawling.

Parachutes deployed once they were a good distance up, and Margaret shouted instructions to have the three of them land safely on a higher cliff out of the brunt of the battle.

Belloc jumped from the wounded kaiju to the one that was down after the attack, breathing enough fire that Margaret could feel the heat from as far away enough as she was.

“You two stay back.” She told Ken and Isabelle. “Stay safe.” She approached the edge of the cliff, a pistol in her hands.

Glancing down the cliffside, she saw Duncan pinned to it with a spine from one of the kaiju. She aimed very carefully and fired at the thinnest point in the spine.

Part of the spine he was struggling against broke, and he glanced up. Once she was sure he had been able to break free, she turned her attention to the kaiju trying to strangle Belloc.

It noticed her and fired a few spines in her direction before being kicked off by Belloc. The ground under her feet started to crumble, and she scrambled back. Duncan scrambled up onto the top of the cliff. “Are you guys okay?”

“We’re fine, Duncan.” Margaret brushed herself off. “You go help your father, I’ll keep your friends safe.”

“You guys stay safe.” He took a running leap off the cliff. His wings snapped open, and he glided over the fight, getting their attention with several bursts of fire.

One tried to swipe at Duncan, and it ended up smacking the other. It was enough for Belloc to finally get free and throw them both off.

“Fight, Duncan!” He was keeping one paw over his neck, rubbing the wound. “You have to kill them!”

“There has to be another way!” Duncan clung to a particularly high stone pillar, moving his wings against his back to aim a few fireballs over. “There  _ has _ to be.”

The snow laden peak of the mountain stood tall over the fighting. They were roughly halfway up the mountain, it wasn’t that far to the top.

Kaiju were based on lizards. They hated fire and other extreme heat, maybe the extreme could would slow them down. Stop the fight.

Duncan glided over to the cliff where the three humans were. “Be ready to move.” He rushed up the mountain with the plans to cause an avalanche.

Shouldn’t be too hard. Just cause a minor natural disaster. What could go wrong?

\----

Margaret was worried about Belloc. She stood probably too far out on the cliff, watching him struggle to keep himself alive. They knew his vulnerable spots, and they were attacking there in full force.

She reloaded the pistol and fired at the kaiju as they prepared to attack again.

One of them noticed her and made a grab at her. Belloc pounced on the kaiju and tried to tear into them. The other one pulled him off and actually managed to grab Margaret.

Belloc grabbed its arm in his mouth, biting down, making green blood spew from the wounds and its hand open. He caught her in one hand, then jumped away, holding the fist with her in it near his chest, smoke pouring from his nostrils.

Duncan had made it up at the base of the snow. He took a few deep breaths, summoning up the fire, and spewed as much fire as he could muster into the snow.

The snow shivered, but it stayed firm. Duncan groaned loudly. “Come on!” He gasped for breath and aimed a little higher and tried again.

The snow shivered and started to crumble downwards.

He dove downwards, trying to outrace the snow. He could only see Ken and Isabelle near the edge of the cliff, and the snow was about to overtake him. “Belloc! Get Mom!”

He crashed into the two of them, wrapping his arms around them and his wings followed suit as they were swept up in the avalanche. Even Belloc was pushed off his feet and down the rest of the mountain with the force of the snow.

\----

As soon as everything stopped moving, Duncan had to claw his way out of the hardened snow. It took a fair amount of clawing and wiggling, but he had a hole to the surface after a few minutes. Duncan sighed with exhaustion and he pulled Ken and Isabelle out.

“This is crazy.” Kenny sighed, rubbing their shoulder. “You look weird man, with the scales and all that.”

Duncan took a few deep breaths and his wings folded into his back and the scales slid back under his skin. “How about now?” He flashed a little grin.

“Loads better.”

Their attention was turned to Belloc breaking out of the snow. The massive kaiju crawled out of the snow and gently opened his hand to reveal Margaret, looking disoriented, sprawled across his palm.

“Are you alright, my love?” He rumbled as she slid to the ground.

“I’m fine.” She brushed her bodysuit off, walking over towards Duncan and his friends. “Are you three alright?”

“We’re good, Mom.” Duncan gave her the thumbs up.

Belloc moved forward, on all fours, keeping his head low. Isabelle and Kenny slightly hid behind Duncan's back. “You did not kill them.”

“I couldn’t…. it just… felt wrong.” Duncan rubbed his arms. “I’m not a murderer. I don’t want to have to kill people to assert myself as ruler.”

“But you did manage to beat them. I wouldn’t have thought it possible. Perhaps there was value in leaving you with your mother.” He lifted his head; there were the sounds of jets and other military vehicles approaching. “I will be in contact with you soon, Duncan, have no doubt about that.”

With a stretch, Belloc rushed off into kaiju territory. His tail dragged through the snow and obscured his footprints. Within a few minutes, he was gone.

“You going to be okay, Mom?” Duncan watched her as she stared off towards where Belloc left.

“I’ll be fine. It’s just been a long time since I’ve….. since I’ve missed your father.”

Duncan could hear Isabelle mutter to herself. “And I thought I was the monster fucker.”

MEGTAF arrived shortly. The weapons were thankfully put away when Duncan explained how the two kaiju were hibernating. They got transports ready and started to dig them out of the hardened snow.

Upon being questioned about it, Barnes gave almost no detail and was being particularly tight lipped about what MEGTAF intended to do with the two kaiju that they were taking custody of, and it left Duncan with a bad taste in his mouth.

“You don’t worry your little head about those two.” Barnes was keeping weight off one of his legs. “They won’t be bothering anybody again.”

With a deep sigh, Duncan walked over to where Ken and Isabelle were being threatened to keep Duncan’s heritage a secret.

“You don’t have to harass my friends.” Duncan scoffed as he slung his arms across their shoulders. “They can keep secrets.”

“They better.” The agent said as he walked away.

“Don’t mind those guys. I won’t let anybody hurt you.” Duncan squeezed them close to him. “So, we didn’t go to homecoming, but at least we’re alive.”

Kenny sighed quietly. “This was a crazy weekend… and it’s barely Sunday.”

“Are you going to be coming to school Monday, Duncan?” Isabelle raised an eyebrow. “Or are you going to be moving again or whatever?”

Duncan glanced over to his mother, tilting his head playfully. “So, Mom, are we gonna be moving again?”

She uncrossed her arms and walked over to the group of teenagers. “Not on your life. You’ve finally got some friends for the first time since sixth grade.” She hugged Duncan briefly before smirking at him. “Maybe they’ll get you out of the house more often.”

Duncan chuckled softly and glanced over at Kenny and Isabelle. “That answers that. I’ll see you both at school I guess.” Duncan shrugged.

“Come on, you three.” Margaret ushered them towards one of the jets. “We got to get you all home, your parents are probably worried enough as it is.”

“I could fly myself home.” Duncan gestured to his back vaguely. It was only now he had noticed the dress shirt was completely destroyed. Whoops.

“Not on your life.” Margaret gestured for him to follow her. “Come on.”

“Okay, okay.” Duncan shook his head and sauntered into the jet. This was certainly one of his stranger starts to a new school. He couldn't help but wonder what the rest of the school year held in store. 


End file.
